On the Run
by Shannon K
Summary: This is another (short) story in my Immortal Spacemonkey series, set in season four, after Window of Opportunity. Daniel is loaned out to another team for an off-world mission. Of course it won't be an easy mission. It's Daniel after all. Please read and review.
1. Chapter 1

On the Run

Disclaimer: As much as I might wish, I do not own Stargate: SG1, Highlander: the Series, or any recognizable characters from either show. However, any characters that are not from either show are mine and I will use and abuse them as I see fit. Everyone else will be returned eventually, for I am only borrowing for a while, but they might end up a bit scuffed.

A/N: This story is set within my Immortal Spacemonkey, set within the fourth season, just after Window of Opportunity. I hope you like it. Please feel free to drop me a review, good or bad. Though if it is bad, let it be constructive criticism and let me know how I can improve and suck less. I like to pretend that I don't have feelings, but I do. Be kind.

* * *

Chapter 1

SG-1 had returned from P4X-639, ending their time stuck in a galactic Groundhogs Day. They were currently finishing up the necessary paperwork, documenting their actions on the alien planet. However, it was an unspoken agreement among all members of SG-1, that they would not mention Jack bringing up the death of his son. There was no point in adding something so painful to an official report.

Soon after, Jack and Teal'c were taking off for some necessary time off. While they weren't physically exhausted from the ordeal, they were both mentally drained. They needed the time away from the SGC to recover from their never ending adventure. Jack mentioned something about fishing and Teal'c was planning to go see his son and Master Bray'tac for a while.

Daniel and Sam, not receiving an extended amount of leave, planned on spending their downtime planet-side, catching up on work that was piling up on their desks.

Daniel, happy to have uninterrupted time to slog through the paperwork and translations that needed to be completed, remained in his office, fortified by caffeine and Sam coming by occasionally to make sure he had eaten.

By the third day, he had managed to clear almost all of his desk off. It gave him a tremendous amount of satisfaction. Daniel contemplated his next move. There were several other tasks that he knew needed to be finished, but cleaning his office was a priority. He debated whether to dust his bookshelves or clean out the drawers of his desk. Both areas were in need of cleaning.

While he was finishing putting his signature on the last report, a call on his phone interrupted his internal debate of whether to attack the dust bunnies on the shelves or to empty his desk out of broken pens, crumpled up notes, and discarded power bar wrappers.

"Jackson," he said absently into the phone, holding it close to his ear, twirling a pen in the other hand.

"Right away," he then agreed to whatever the person on the other line was saying. He then tossed the pen onto the empty flat surface, checked to make sure the coffee pot was off, and left the room, headed towards the conference room, as requested.

SG1SG1SG1SG1SG1

"What can I do for you General?" Daniel asked as he breezed into the conference room, noting Major Barrows, Lieutenant Meyer, Sergeant Abbott, and Dr. Lopez sitting around the table with General Hammond.

"Thank you for coming so quickly, Dr. Jackson," Hammond replied. "Please sit down. I need you to go off world with SG-7 to P5X-349."

"Okay. May I ask why?" Daniel asked, taking the folder handed to him by Major Barrows

Hammond nodded towards Dr. Lopez to explain things to Daniel.

"We sent a team to the planet to get a good look around and it seems that the people are ethnically from China. They didn't seem to be hostile, per the report of SG-11, the first contact team. They had someone who spoke a little Mandarin, but not enough to be fluent. I don't speak more than a few words of Cantonese and we don't want to step on any toes by saying the wrong thing," Dr. Lopez, a short, efficient, dark-haired, dark-eyed, and perpetually perky expert in Meso-American pre-Columbian cultures, especially in the Huari, Chimor, and Incan civilizations. She was also a fast learner, who was quickly mastering the Goa'uld language and her Ancient Egyptian was improving (kind of).

"We would like you to serve as a translator and have a look around the place and see what we can see. The village, according the first team has some old trinium mines that we would like to get access to, in exchange for agriculture or medical help," Hammond added. "We didn't see any active signs of Goa'uld occupation. The other teams that would normally handle something like this are already off-world, injured, or like half of SG-1, on leave."

"But it never hurts to be prepared," Daniel muttered, leafing through the briefing folder. "When do we leave?"

"We are scheduled to leave at 0700 tomorrow. The solar cycle on the planet appears to follow roughly ours and is currently experiencing a nice spring day," Lt. Meyers added in a clipped manner, an Academy grad with a degree in meteorology. While he and Daniel had never had a cross moment, he seemed to want to please his commanding officer and appeared to emulate Barrows' attitude towards civilians.

Sergeant James Abbott was pleasant enough towards everyone; rank, branch, and civilian status made no difference to him. He treated everyone nicely, but tended to blend in to his surroundings, avoiding being noticed.

Daniel noticed him though. He also noticed Abbott's tattoo.

They finished the briefing and were dismissed.

Barrows caught Daniel when they were out in the hallway, far away from the ears of the General.

"Jackson, just so you know, I am the commanding officer of this mission, not you," he growled, trying to stare Daniel down. "I know O'Neill is more apt to forgo proper military protocols, but I don't tolerate that kind of thing with my people." Barrows, who had maybe only an inch on Daniel, tried to intimidate him with size and attitude.

Daniel blinked. He had to pause a second and forcefully will himself to not say something flippant. It had been a couple of years since someone in uniform had tried to put him in his place. He hated it when people went on power trips.

"There was never a question in my mind that this is your mission and I am just the tag-along translator," Daniel said, trying to remain calm. "You're in charge. I get that."

"Remember that and this mission will go smoothly," Barrows glared at the mild-mannered academic. With that, he did an about face and marched off somewhere, with Meyers tagging along in his wake.

"Really, once you get to know him, he is quite warm and fuzzy," Abbott muttered to Daniel, causing him to snort in laughter.

"Oh yeah," Dr. Lopez chimed in. "Once he got so warm and fuzzy, he actually called me Dr. Lopez, rather than the usual Lopez he barks at me."

"This is going to be an interesting mission for sure," Daniel said. He quickly bid the others good bye before heading off to get his gear together for the next day.

SG1SG1SG1SG1SG1SG1

The next day saw Daniel standing in the gate room with SG-7, watching the gate spin before locking on to the correct coordinates. He was armed with his sidearm, a Zat, and the normal standard combat knife that was issued to everyone. He also had a secreted knife strapped to his arm, hidden by the long sleeves of his BDU jacket, and one strapped to his leg. There was a part of him that wished he had his sword strapped to his back, but he knew that was impossible and impractical. So he had to settle for his knives.

"SG-7, you have a go. God speed," Hammond called over the speakers, once the Gate had made a connection with the other gate on P5X-349.

"Let's go," Barrows barked at the team and started forward up the ramp to the Gate and into the giant blue puddle.

The others followed, stepping through the event horizon, allowing themselves to be demolecularized and thrown across the galaxy, to be reassembled on a planet that wasn't their own.

Once they were through the Stargate, they were confronted with trees, a blue sky, grassy fields, and giant black and white caterpillars, roughly the size of a school bus, which lounged around, happily munching on the grass.

"The briefing didn't say anything about giant caterpillars," Abbott remarked as they all stood around and stared at the things for a minute.

"We didn't see them on the MALP and SG-11 didn't mention it either," Lopez said, looking on in amazement.

"Ni hao, luke," a young voice said off to the side.

The members of SG-7 and Daniel jumped a little, taken by surprise.

"Ni hao! Ni hao ma? Wo jiao Jackson Daniel. Nin gui xing?"

Wo jiao Sun Jai," the boy, no more than ten years old, replied.

He and Daniel continued for a minute or more before Daniel was able to ask where the village elders were that SG-11 had spoken to earlier as the first contact unit. Daniel was told that he had been assigned to watch for the visitors while the elders had to take care of business in their town and he was to bring the travelers to the village post-haste.

Daniel translated the boy's message to Bowerman, who then ordered everyone to look sharp and head out.

They made it to the village in about ten minutes. They saw more of the giant caterpillars along the way and the boy explained to Daniel that the people domesticated the caterpillars for their silk and were considered sacred. Using their silk was one thing, killing them was forbidden.

Daniel told the others that the caterpillars were not to be harmed. Barrows, surprisingly, accepted Daniel's words; Daniel, Abbott, and Lopez both looked at Barrows in surprise.

"What?" he barked. "I'm not going to be the one to kill a bunch of caterpillars. That's gross. Can you imagine the mess it would make?"

Lopez managed to suppress a snort and just mouthed the words "warm and fuzzy" to Daniel.

The group arrived at the village and were immediately greeted by three elderly men, presumably the village elders. All of them wore simple clothes, but the material was made of out silk. In fact, everyone in the village they could see were wearing clothes made out of silk. Daniel surmised that the caterpillars were probably giant silkworms, or very closely related to the ones back on earth.

The village itself was small, full of wooden homes with thatched roofs. There was a communal well in the middle of the town "square." Fields of grain were seen beyond the homes. Daniel couldn't see any statues denoting any allegiance to a particular god or goddess (or Goa'uld).

Barrows, Meyers, and Daniel sat down with the elders, had some tea, and discussed the possibility of Earth gaining access to the trinium mines that was adjacent to the village. Lopez, with Abbott, were allowed to have a look-see around the village, meeting with the people, trying to get an idea about life in the village.

Negotiations took their time and the fact that the village needed to get on with their daily lives. Animals still needed to be cared for, fields needed to be tended, clothes needed to be washed, dinner needed to be cooked. Life did not grind to a stop just because strangers showed up.

The night was a celebration for the villagers, welcoming the strangers from Earth. The food, while nothing like the stuff from back home, did seem to derive from traditional Chinese cooking. The people were nice. After the festivities, the people gave the members of SG-7 a place to sleep. They still kept watch, but it was nice to sleep for once on a bed (slightly scratchy and lumpy) and not the hard ground in a tent.

Daniel did notice how at the four corners of the village stood sentinels, looking out for something or someone, all armed with Jis and Nus. All the elders would say, when questioned, is they were watching out for raiders and thieves, potential trouble makers. Sun Jai reassured Daniel that it had been a long time since they had someone make trouble for the village, but they always took precautions.

* * *

A/N: So what do you think? Crap or not? Feel free to hit the shiny review button and let me know. Just please, if you don't like it or feel it should be improved somehow, let your criticisms be constructive and not flames.

I hope this is a correct translation (please forgive me if it isn't right): Ni hao, luke = hello, travelers; Ni hao ma = how are you; Nin gui xing = may I ask your name; Woa jaio = I am…

The Ji is a two-handed pole weapon used as a military weapon in China as early as the Shang dynasty (1600 BC – 1046 BC). It comprises a long handle with a curved blade attached to the top and a sharp metal tip. The Ji is a very diverse and useful instrument, it can be used to slash with the side blade or stab with the tip.

A Nu is a semi-automatic crossbow.


	2. Chapter 2

On the Run

Disclaimer: As much as I might wish, I do not own Stargate: SG1, Highlander: the Series, or any recognizable characters from either show. However, any characters that are not from either show are mine and I will use and abuse them as I see fit. Everyone else will be returned eventually, for I am only borrowing for a while, but they might end up a bit scuffed.

* * *

Chapter 2

The next day, after morning chores in the village were done, the negotiations were resumed. All went well, with Daniel translating between Barrows and the chief elder, Song Min. The SGC was going to get access to the trinium, as long as they left the near-by cemetery alone, and the villagers were going to get some help with their water system.

The negotiations took longer than expected because certain rites and rituals needed to be followed, along with daily life in a small, self-sustaining village that needed to be attended to.

By the time the negotiations had almost come to a close and all parties were satisfied with the results, it was in the middle of the day. The members of SG-7 were invited to stay and join the people for one last night of festivities that were to celebrate the alliance between the SGC and the people of P5x-349, though they referred to themselves as the Qin. Borrows, while not all really wanting to party down with the aliens, knew that he had to accept, least he offend them and nix the treaty.

So there they were, standing in the village square, watching the people celebrate with songs, dancing, and laughter. Everyone was in high spirits. Even Barrows managed to crack a half a smile at one point. It might have been gas though.

Suddenly, while they were watching the merriment of the people, the sudden sound of a stampede drowning out the music invaded the party. People screamed in surprise and fright. Their voices competed with the horse hooves and the yelling of a raiding party.

Daniel, who was sitting near Abbott and Lopez, jumped up at first scream, his weapon at the ready, but unsure of who was attacking since people were running everywhere.

"SG-7, fall back," Barrows, who was on the far side of the square with Meyers, shouted to his people, but was then cut off when an arrow pierced his throat. Meyers was also similarly shot with an arrow.

"Oh shit," Daniel exclaimed, seeing both men quickly bleed out and die from their wounds. "Back, fall back," he then yelled at Abbott and Lopez as he fired his Beretta at the raiders, who were mounted on horseback, giving cover to his teammates, and the villagers who were running back to their homes, from the cavalry.

Abbott urged Lopez and Daniel to follow him back into the trees, not wanting to make the civilians targets, more so than they already were, and not wanting to box themselves in a frail building.

Daniel continued to fire at the raiders as he retreated, following Abbott and Lopez. He felt a sharp stabbing pain above the top of his right boot. Daniel ignored the pain, figuring that his healing abilities would kick in and heal any wound before it became noticeable.

They continued to run for about a mile until they were in the thick of the trees, concealed from anyone who wanted them dead.

"Oh my God," Lopez gasped, leaning up against the rough bark of a tree that looked vaguely like a maple tree from back home.

"Marisol, are you okay," Abbott asked, sliding down into a sitting position up against another tree across from Dr. Lopez. He didn't look all that good.

"Ye-yeah," she stuttered. "You?" she asked.

"I've been better," Sergeant Abbott said and moved his hand aside showing an arrow protruding from his side. "So have you Daniel." He then gestured at Daniel's leg.

Daniel looked down and saw an arrow sticking out of this calf. "Well, shit," he said, finally feeling the pain fully. Thinking quickly, he broke out an emergency first aid pack and pulled out a large band-aide.

"Mari, I need you to help me," Daniel ordered the other doctor on the team. He held out one of his knives to her. "Cut open the area around the arrow. Grab hold of the shaft and yank it out." He hoped she would be able to slap the bandage over the wound before his healing kicked in; while he could repress his Quickening signature, repressing his healing abilities was much more difficult, if not impossible.

"Daniel, I don't know if I can," Dr. Lopez protested. "It could make things worse."

"It won't. I promise you. I need you to do it so then we can help Jim here. Now suck it up and just do it," he barked, realizing how much he sounded like Jack right then.

"Oh my God," she muttered, hating what she was about to do. "This is going to hurt," she then warned Daniel.

Daniel let out a short laugh. "I've had worse. Just do it. Don't worry about it hurting. Yank it out and slap the bandage I am holding on to it."

Dr. Lopez cut open his pant leg a bit more, exposing the arrow, seeing the arrow's head buried in the muscle of his lower leg. She then grasped the shaft and pulled with all of her might, ripping the projectile out of his calf.

Daniel did his best to repress a scream, and his vision greyed out for a second. At least he didn't have to worry about scarring.

Dr. Lopez then took the bandage and slapped it over the wound which was gushing blood.

"Good job, now help me with Jim please," Daniel managed to ground out through clenched teeth. While he might be Immortal, it didn't prevent him from experiencing pain and Lopez yanking the arrow out of his leg hurt. Badly.

Together they cut off Abbott's tac-vest and tore open his over shirt and t-shirt, exposing an arrow in his body, on his right side, just above his belt line.

"Oh man," Daniel muttered. "I don't want to take it out. It might do more damage if we do."

"I just ripped one out of you," Lopez pointed out.

Daniel grimaced. "I know, but my calf isn't full of organs that you need to keep living. Plus, I heal quickly."

Abbott snorted at that.

"Quiet you," Daniel said, and continued to examine the arrow. "You aren't going to be happy with me," he said, making a decision, thanking all of the first aid classes the SGC had made him take over the years.

"Am I ever happy with you?" Abbott ground out, not liking the look on Daniel's face.

"Hey, I thought we were friends," Daniel said, looking wounded. "You mean you don't like our get-togethers when I regale you with tales of my misspent youth? I'm hurt," he said, doing his best to keep Abbott occupied as he got out the Leatherman tool that Jack had given him the previous Christmas. Moving swiftly, he broke off the arrow's wooden shaft using the plier's tool while holding tight just above the entry point.

Abbott did his best to not cry out in pain, but he couldn't keep it all in. He could be stoic when necessary, but not when he was having an arrow sticking out of his body and Daniel was fooling around with it, causing the wound to hurt even more than it already was hurting.

Daniel quickly padded the remainder of the arrow's shaft with strips of Abbott's over blouse and then bound it using ace bandages from his and Abbott's first aid packs.

"I hate you," Abbott ground out, though he didn't really mean it.

"You know you love me," Daniel smiled briefly. "Can you move?"

"Maybe, I don't know," Abbott managed to say.

Daniel, as gently as possible, hauled Abbott to his feet. "Can you stand on your own?"

"Sure," Abbott said and promptly sank. Thankfully Daniel caught him before he hit the ground. "Maybe not then." At this point, Abbott really did not look good. He was shaking and sweating. His skin was taking on an unhealthy shade of grey.

"Well, shit," Daniel muttered again, finding himself thinking, what Jack would do in this kind of situation.

Jack would probably tell him to get Abbott to safety and get help. They were possibly surrounded by an unknown number of enemies on very foreign soil, and with no immediate backup.

"Okay, let's get Abbott here to safety with you looking out and guarding him, while I make a run for the Stargate," Daniel decided, telling Lopez his idea.

Dr. Lopez looked alarmed at the idea of the three of them separating. "What if you get captured Daniel? We won't know where they will have taken you."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence Mari," Daniel caustically replied. "I won't get caught and if I do, maybe I can talk my way out of things." Daniel looked around and spied a thicker copse of trees with plenty of logs and brush to further screen a hiding place. He just hoped that the brush wasn't also hiding this planet's version of poison ivy.

"Daniel, please don't do anything reckless," Abbott managed to say, giving Daniel a look that said plenty by itself.

"Have you no faith in me?" Daniel said, faking being hurt by Abbott's words.

Abbott snorted. "I have tons of faith in you," he said, "to get hurt, captured, or lead an insurrection among a native alien population."

Daniel half laughed, acknowledging that the Watcher's words were somewhat true. "Trust me, I will do my best to avoid any entanglements."

"No killing rampages," Abbott then said quietly.

At that Daniel rolled his eyes. "You go on one little tear and everyone automatically assumes you are going to do it again."

Lopez, not understanding where the conservation was going between them men, looked on in confusion.

"I'll be okay," Daniel said, handing off his sidearm and extra magazines to Lopez, but keeping his Zat, a radio, and his knives. He also handed off his beloved boony hat to her and covered his hair with a dew rag. He didn't want to take the chance of it getting caught on something or, worse, losing it.

After making sure that Abbott was okay, fortifying their hide-out, and that Lopez was comfortable with him taking off, Daniel slipped away, disappearing into the forest.

He was now officially on the run from an unknown enemy and on an alien world; a very typical Daniel Jackson kind of day.

* * *

A/N: So what do you think? Crap or not? Feel free to hit the shiny review button and let me know. Just please, if you don't like it or feel it should be improved somehow, let your criticisms be constructive and not flames.


	3. Chapter 3

On the Run

Disclaimer: As much as I might wish, I do not own Stargate: SG1, Highlander: the Series, or any recognizable characters from either show. However, any characters that are not from either show are mine and I will use and abuse them as I see fit. Everyone else will be returned eventually, for I am only borrowing for a while, but they might end up a bit scuffed.

* * *

Chapter 3

Daniel's goal was to make it to the Gate without running into any of the raiders. He figured that it would take him a couple of hours at the most and would be able to bring back a rescue squad to get Abbott out of there.

Of course the laws of the Universe said not so fast.

About half a klick from where he had left the surviving members of SG-7, he ran into one of the attackers (he assumed that it was one of the raiders, since he looked pissed and was armed for war, though he did not have a horse with him).

The native man saw Daniel and let out a war cry before rushing at him, screaming, hoping to intimidate the off-worlder.

It was a bit off-putting, having another human run at him with a sword in hand. However, Daniel had been around the block a few times and gotten the t-shirts to prove it. He wasn't about to be intimidated by an alien who reminded him of Genghis Khan.

Daniel quietly observed them man rushing blindly towards him, refusing to move his position. When the man got within maybe fifteen feet, shot him once with his Zat, that he held loosely in his hand, knocking the man out.

"Indiana Jones would approve," Daniel observed, smirking a little. He had always wanted to do that. The only bad thing was that no one else was around to appreciate the moment with him.

Moving swiftly, he secured his attacker, using a pair of zip ties on his arms and legs. He then ripped off a square of the man's tunic, with the help of his knife, and stuffed it in the guy's mouth when he woke up. He noted that on his attacker there was a brand, not a tattoo, on the guy's neck. Thinking hard, he recognized the characters as "si wang," which meant Death, showing their allegiance to Yen-Lo-Wang, the god of death, the caretaker of the fifth floor of Hell in Chinese mythology.

Lovely.

He picked up the man's sword, hefting it, noting its weight and balance. The sword, a Dao, with a single sharp edge on its slightly curved blade and a wooden handle wrapped in heavy canvas, wasn't bad, but it wasn't overly elegant. With a few practice swipes, he liked the feel of the sword. It was well balanced and functional. He appreciated its simplicity in design, functionality over ornamentation.

Clearly it was primarily a weapon to be used and not a show piece. While he didn't especially like curved blades, he knew how to use one. It would do, for now.

He did not want to have to use a sword against a mortal. In fact he had made a vow, many years before, that he would not use a sword as a weapon against a non-Immortal and kill the person. While he recognized that in the very near future that vow would probably get broken, it was his hope that he wouldn't have to. However, as the Universe had pointed out many time, he didn't always get what he wanted.

~SG1SG1SG1SG1SG1~

Daniel ran through the trees, doing his very best to remain as quiet as possible, his sword out and ready in case he was suddenly confronted by the enemy.

The forest he was in looked like any typical forest on Earth. Lots of trees, close together, occasionally broken up by a possible deer run, or whatever was the local equivalent. The floor was littered with old, dead leaves and bushes, complete with thorns, possibly designed by Satan himself. He had accidentally stepped in one and the sharp barbs tore through his pants. They burned more than a normal thorn would and his leg went slightly numb; he figured that they were possibly poisonous, but not enough that his immortal healing couldn't keep up with it.

He knew he had to get to the Stargate as quickly as possible for Abbott's sake. Daniel figured that they had run at least a mile into the forest, away from the village, which was about two miles from the Gate. If he remembered his basic geometry from years ago, a2 + b2 = c2, therefore, the Gate was approximately 2.25 miles from Abbott's and Lopez's position.

Now if he wasn't concerned about possibly enemies lurking behind every bush and tree, he could have made the run in less than twenty minutes (his last PT test had him doing two miles in 15:06). However, this wasn't an easy run around a track. This was across alien terrain with hostiles about and he didn't want to get caught.

As quietly as he could, he ran among the trees, hating every time his foot found a twig and snapped it or rustled the leaves, creating way more sound than he wanted. His stray sounds seemed to be magnified, alerting anyone of his presence.

He went on for a few more minutes, mindful that he had to hurry.

A blood-curdling scream caught him by surprise. The next thing he knew, a body hit him hard, knocking him to the ground. Somehow he managed to keep his grip on his sword, but he lost his Zat in the chaos.

* * *

A/N: So what do you think? Crap or not? Feel free to hit the shiny review button and let me know. Just please, if you don't like it or feel it should be improved somehow, let your criticisms be constructive and not flames.


	4. Chapter 4

On the Run

Disclaimer: As much as I might wish, I do not own Stargate: SG1, Highlander: the Series, or any recognizable characters from either show. However, any characters that are not from either show are mine and I will use and abuse them as I see fit. Everyone else will be returned eventually, for I am only borrowing for a while, but they might end up a bit scuffed.

Chapter 4

It was a good thing that Daniel kept a grip on his sword. His attacker, also carrying a sword, struck at him, which Daniel was able to block and then recoiled and kicked out at his attacker, creating distance between the two of them, allowing Daniel to scramble to his feet.

"Nǐ de sǐ jiāng dài lái róngyào," the man growled. "Wángyànhuì hěn gāoxìng."

"Great," Daniel muttered, his eyes on the man in front of him, but keenly aware that he was still at least two football fields away from the Gate and DHD and there were several other natives, all armed, surrounding him. "There is no glory in this," he then called, hoping that his words of reason would reach the man's ears.

What his attacker screamed next could be loosely translated as "fuck you," right before he exploded into action.

Daniel, mentally shifting from Daniel the peaceful explorer to Danil, Immortal and friend of the Horsemen in a split second, met his opponent, their blades clashing, the metal making a horrible screeching noise.

Their fight wasn't one of elegance and beauty. It was a violent clashing of metal and bodies. While this was a deadly fight between two individuals, it didn't have the grace of a fight between Immortals. This was a fight of desperation from one side and irritation from the other side.

The other man slashed and hacked at Danil, hoping to overwhelm the off-worlder, not understanding who and what he was facing. Screaming insults and profanity, the local hoped to scare his opponent into doing something stupid and die.

Danil was quite irritated that this local guy was in his way, preventing him from accessing the DHD so he could call home for help. Fed up with this man getting in his way, switched from defense to offense. He launched his own attack, forcing his opponent to react to him.

Clashing together, their blades made horrible screeching sounds as the different weapons met each other.

The native man made a few wild swings at Danil, over reaching at times, leaving himself open.

Danil however, was methodical in his approach, making calculated attacks, keeping his arcs close in, doing his best to not leave himself open. He did take a couple blows, got punched a couple of times and nicked by his opponent's blade. While he was better, much better than this guy, he wasn't infallible and wasn't above taking a few hard knocks.

Looking for an opportunity to end the fight quickly, Danil found it when the man swung too far, leaving himself open for an attack. He stepped inside the man's defenses, pushing the other's sword further away. Danil then drove an elbow into the man's face and his knee into this stomach, hitting him high and low.

The man cursed, probably, his words were unintelligible thanks to the broken nose Danil had given him.

Danil then swept the legs out from underneath his attacker. Once he was on the ground, Danil kicked the man in the head, knocking him out. Danil, circled around his opponent, making sure the man was out of the fight. He also took the opportunity to pin point where the other humans were, friends of the man he had fought, and were most likely not friendly towards him.

They were far away enough from him that Danil then took the opportunity to then start running towards the Gate and the DHD. He had to get reinforcements to help get Abbott and Lopez back home.

He zigged and zagged across the field, doing his best to avoid the arrows that were being shot his way. He also prayed that none of the riders on horseback were near-by. While he was a relatively fast runner, there was no way he could outrun a horse.

Danil ran, with the blood rushing in his ears, he barely picked up the pounding of horse hoofs coming up behind him. He turned his head as he ran, seeing a raider barreling down upon him, with a sword in his hand.

"Shit," he said and briefly had a flash of terror and horrifying realization pass through him.

 _This is what I did to others_ , he thought to himself, filled with regret and shame. _I was them._

The stray thoughts and guilt caused him to stumble, thankfully in time. The rider's sword, also a Dao, missed his neck by a hair.

Danil used his stumble to roll to the side, out of the reach of the horse rider, who also had a brand burned into his neck showing his allegiance to Yen-Lo-Wang.

The rider, circled back around, ready to have a go at Daniel once more.

Danil readying himself, adjusting his grip on his sword ever so slightly, knowing that he was standing directly in the path of the horse that was barreling towards him. His eyes were narrowed, his face cold and almost alien (to those who knew him as only Dr. Daniel Jackson). He was ready.

His attacker, yelling a war cry, raced towards Danil, expecting to catch the man and run him over on the horse.

Instead, Danil gave his sword a tiny flip, catching the pommel of the sword in a fist and then threw his sword at the rider like a javelin.

The throw caught the rider by surprise (and Danil too, a little). The sword pierced his body, to the right of his heart, the force of the blow knocking him from his ride. The throw wasn't accurate enough to kill the man, probably, but it was enough to stop his horse-mounted charge.

Danil, not wanting to waste any more time than necessary, didn't stop to admire his handiwork, and took off running for the DHD.

He slid to a halt in front of the device and quickly pounded in the coordinates necessary to call home. The time it took for the Stargate to form its familiar blue puddle was agonizingly long.

"This is Daniel Jackson to Stargate Command, come in. We are under attack by armed locals. Major Barrows and Lieutenant Meyer are both dead. Sergeant Abbott has been seriously wounded. We need help, ASAP!" Daniel called over his radio, ducking behind the DHD to avoid more arrows.

"Dr. Jackson," a familiar voice spoke up, "Can you get to a more secure spot and wait for reinforcements?" Walter Harriman asked as he frantically called for the General to come to the control room.

"No," Daniel yelled, dodging an arrow that came dangerously close to his head. "I am pinned down, being shot at with arrows. Abbott can't make it to the gate on his own. We need help now!"

Just as he said that last bit, an arrow was shot from somewhere behind the gate. The raiders had circled around the Gate.

The arrow pierced his left shoulder, slicing through the muscle and out the back, causing him to scream in pain and surprise.

"We need help now. I'm about to be turned into a pin cushion! Oh shit!" he yelled as another arrow went through his right shoulder, knocking him to the ground.

"Hang on Dr. Jackson, help is coming," the General announced right before the Gate was cut off, leaving Daniel to face his attackers on his own for the time being.

A/N: So what do you think? Crap or not? Feel free to hit the shiny review button and let me know. Just please, if you don't like it or feel it should be improved somehow, let your criticisms be constructive and not flames.

Translation: "Nǐ de sǐ jiāng dài lái róngyào,"..."Wángyànhuì hěn gāoxìng." – Your death will bring me glory…Yan Wang will be pleased.


	5. Chapter 5

On the Run

Disclaimer: As much as I might wish, I do not own Stargate: SG1, Highlander: the Series, or any recognizable characters from either show. However, any characters that are not from either show are mine and I will use and abuse them as I see fit. Everyone else will be returned eventually, for I am only borrowing for a while, but they might end up a bit scuffed.

* * *

Chapter 5

The local, a short man with steely eyes and a super angry look on his face, strode forward, nocking another arrow on his bow. He stood above Daniel, who did his best to scoot himself backwards, using his arms and feet, while ignoring the horrific pain in his shoulders.

The man let his arrow fly, straight into Daniel's stomach, causing the Immortal's body to involuntarily arch up in pain as he gasped, feeling like he had been stabbed, which, technically, he had been.

He lost feeling in his legs. They hung there, useless, refusing to move. He couldn't use them to help him scramble backwards, putting more distance between him and his attacker. Daniel knew that his spine had been severed.

The attacker, walked slowly over to Daniel's prone form and pulled his sword from his back, hefting it between his hands, laughing tauntingly at his prey.

 _Shit_ , Danil said to himself. He didn't want to die on an alien planet, get beheaded and have his Quickening lost forever. It was the equivalent of being lost at sea for all eternity for an Immortal.

 _Shut up, put on your Big Boy pants, and pull the damn thing out,_ he then told himself. _You are not allowed to let yourself die like this. You didn't survive all these years, more or less, to be beheaded on another world. Methos would be mocking you if he saw you like this._

Danil, ignoring the best he could the agonizing pain that he was in, grabbed the shaft with both hands and yanked the offending object out of his body. Almost immediately, he felt the familiar tingle of his Quickening working to repair the damage his body had endured.

Thankfully, the feeling to his legs returned, allowing him to push himself further away from his attacker as he shoved one, then the other arrow, through and out of each shoulder, causing the warrior to falter. The man had never seen someone so something like this before.

"Have you been blessed by Yan Wang?" the alien asked, astonished, to see the off-worlder rise from what should have been a permanently crippling injury.

Danil laughed bitterly as he pulled out one of his knives, an old K-bar knife. "I have been blessed by no one. I am a Horseman." There was a wicked gleam in his eyes that hadn't been there for centuries. Danil was determined that he would not go down without a fight, and if it meant he had to fight a sword fight with a knife, while covered in his own blood, so be it. He hadn't been known as Hades because he could build a roaring fire and gave great hugs. He was an ancient warrior, an Immortal.

Danil prepared himself for one hell of a fight, but suddenly the chevrons of the Gate began to light up and the inner circle started to spin. Seven coordinates lit up and a giant Kwaosh shot out of the Gate before settling back into a blue puddle.

 _Thank whatever god is out there_ , Daniel thought with no small amount of relief. But with that split second of loss of attention, his opponent stabbed him in the shoulder with his sword.

"Shit!" Daniel yelled, feeling the agony of the metal blade going through his shoulder in the exact spot where the arrow had entered earlier.

As Daniel faltered, his legs giving out from underneath him due to exhaustion, a loud pop happened from somewhere to the left of him, and his attacker crumpled to the ground with a fresh hole in his forehead.

Daniel whipped his head towards the sound, happily seeing that SG-2 and SG-3 had arrived.

The remaining attackers immediately took off, assessing the situation for themselves, seeing that the off-worlders were ready for a fight.

"Daniel!" Ferretti called out, hurrying over to his friend. "Can't you ever just go through one mission without getting hurt," he admonished the accident prone member of SG-1.

"I've made it through missions without getting hurt," Daniel replied, gritting his teeth. He did have a sword sticking out of his shoulder and it hurt. "Can you pull it out and I'll slap a band aide on it? Abbott was in bad shape when I left him and Lopez."

Ferretti rolled his eyes and broke out his personal first aid kit. "Somehow I don't think that is how you treat a stab wound. Doc Fraiser will have my head if I do that! You might make your injury worse."

"I doubt it. You can blame it all on me in front of her. She likes to yell at me," Daniel promised. "Now give me something to use as a band aide and pull this fucking sword out of me."

Ferretti shook his head, but slapped a wad of gauze in Daniel's hand. "This is going to hurt," he cautioned the Immortal.

"Can't hurt more than when it went in," Daniel observed and his is best to not whimper when Lou pulled the sword free from his body.

Daniel, using his other hand, shoved the wad of gauze into the tear at his shoulder, making sure that nobody would see the blue lightening that was already rapidly healing his shoulder.

"You need to sit down," Ferretti advised the archeologist, worried that Daniel would collapse.

Daniel shook his head. "We need to get to Abbott. He needs help," he insisted, his stubborn-self refusing to quit and leave his teammates out there.

Ferretti wouldn't have it. Daniel looked like shit. Instead, he got on the radio and with Daniel pointing what direction he had left the others, sent himself and his team after the others, while leaving SG-3 to secure the Gate.

Daniel however wouldn't leave until Abbott and Lopez were brought back, despite Reynolds reassuring him that it would be okay if he gated back to Earth.

An hour later, more or less, Ferretti and his team returned with Abbott and Lopez, with several villagers trailing behind jabbering at the off-worlders.

"Daniel, you stubborn jerk," Ferretti called out, covering his teammates who had Abbott on a stretcher. Lopez, looking worn out, trailed behind the group. "Can you talk to the people for us? I want to bring Barrows and Meyers back to Earth."

"Yeah," Daniel said tiredly, trying his best to not move his shoulder and act hurt. He then went over to the locals and spoke quickly and quietly, doing his diplomatic best to get their teammates' bodies returned and maybe save the treaty they had worked so hard for before everything went sideways.

He got things squared away with the nice natives. They got the bodies back, along with reassurances that those that attacked the village were not normal for their world. Daniel let them know that they were not to blame for what happened and that the SGC still wanted to keep the treaty between their people.

In the end, both sides were fairly satisfied with the treaty and Daniel promised the elders that their people would return soon.

* * *

A/N: So what do you think? Crap or not? Feel free to hit the shiny review button and let me know. Just please, if you don't like it or feel it should be improved somehow, let your criticisms be constructive and not flames.


	6. Chapter 6

On the Run

Disclaimer: As much as I might wish, I do not own Stargate: SG1, Highlander: the Series, or any recognizable characters from either show. However, any characters that are not from either show are mine and I will use and abuse them as I see fit. Everyone else will be returned eventually, for I am only borrowing for a while, but they might end up a bit scuffed.

* * *

Epilogue

Once back on Earth, Ferretti let the medical team know that Daniel had been stabbed. This resulted in several of the nurses eagerly volunteering to help Daniel undress and examine his wound.

Fraiser, seeing the slightly panicked look on the Immortal's face, ordered him to a curtained bed where she would examine the "wound" herself, much to the disappointment of several members of the medical staff.

An hour later, after a private, yet fake, exam, necessary bandages to help maintain the illusion that he was completely human and normal, and some creative writing on his medical chart by Dr. Fraiser, Daniel was released from medical was able to finally take a shower. He smelled bad and he knew it.

Daniel did stop by to check on how Abbott was doing and Dr. Lopez told him that Abbott was in surgery. She promised Daniel that she would let him know the minute she heard anything.

After that, he disappeared to take a much needed shower and change into some clean clothes.

~SG1SG1SG1SG1SG1~

A couple of hours later, Dr. Lopez found Daniel in his office, guzzling an unhealthy amount of freshly brewed coffee, while sitting at his desk, working on his after action report while wearing a fresh set of green BDUs.

"How is he doing?" Daniel asked Lopez, who looked grim, but not despondent. She had lost two of her teammates, and while she didn't exactly get along well with Bowerman and Meyers, she did mourn their loss.

"He is out of surgery and the doctor said he should make a full recovery. They took out his appendix and had to repair some damage to his large intestine," she reported. "Fraiser said it will be sometime before he wakes up."

Daniel looked at Dr. Lopez carefully. "Have a seat," he offered, clearing off a nearby spare chair for her. "How are you doing?"

"Oh, you know," she said vaguely, sitting down, wringing her hands nervously.

"Yeah, I do," he said. "I know you weren't all that close with the others, it still sucks to lose a teammate.

"How do you deal with it? You've been here since the beginning. You've lost people. How do you keep going?" she asked, feeling lost.

Daniel sighed and gave her a slight smile. "I keep going because the alternate is to give up. That isn't who I am. I pick up, move on, and live to fight another day. A good friend taught me that life lesson long ago. It will hurt Mari. You will lose people that you care about, but this is worth it I think. You gain some important friendships, a chance to explore the galaxy. I lost my wife, but without all of this, I would never have had the chance to be with her. I wish it had ended differently, but I treasure the time I spent with her. You learn to deal with the bad things and appreciate the good."

Dr. Lopez gave her boss a small smile, acknowledging the truth to Daniel's words. "Thank you Daniel," she said.

"You're welcome to stay and hang out here if you want," Daniel offered, gesturing vaguely to his office.

"No. I told the notification officer that I would go with them to speak with Major Barrow's family. He and his wife have two kids and a third one on the way apparently. I never knew that. It's sad to think that we were teammates for nearly a year and I knew nothing about him. Lieutenant Meyers, I only know that his parents live in Lincoln, Nebraska," she explained.

"Take it as a lesson and learn from it. Learn more about Abbott, learn more about your future teammates. Make a family here," Daniel sagely advised.

"I will, and thank you Daniel." With that, she quickly left the office, leaving Daniel by himself to think about the events that happened off world, wondering if he should let his teammates in on his little secret.

He sat there for a long time.

* * *

A/N: So, what do you think? Crap or not? Feel free to hit the shiny review button and let me know. Just please, if you don't like it or feel it should be improved somehow, let your criticisms be constructive and not flames.

Thank you to everyone who read my story. I appreciate it that you took the time to do so. Also, thank you to those who took the time to leave me a review. Your feedback is helpful and appreciated.


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